Legends
by Pikagalmish
Summary: People's hearts are filled with darkness... And now, that darkness is spreading, threatening to destroy all of humanity. The only hints to stopping it are an ancient prophecy, and the next generation...


**Chapter One: Emerald**

**By Pikagalmish**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Pokemon or any of its associated characters. The Pokemon games are copyrighted to Game Freak, Nintendo, and Creatures Inc.; The Anime is property of Taijiri Satoshi-sensei, TV Tokyo, and the (horrible) dub belongs to 4Kids Productions.

* * *

_It was inevitable... The past would repeat itself, and unless something was done, the same tragedy would befall us all once more...

* * *

_

A red Gyrados swam steadily on the contaminated river. It was the only living creature for miles, for the war had torn up the surrounding lands. A cloaked figure rode upon its back.

"Where are we, Red?"

_The outskirts of Blackthorn City._

His trainer remained silent. Though it was impossible to tell for the cloak cast a shadow over its eyes, the person seemed to survey the remains of the city. The remains of home. To think, this area had once been lush, with so many Magikarp living in the waters that they annoyed fishing trainers. Now, not one remained.

"Keep moving, Red. I don't want any League scum to see us. The base should be just up ahead."

Red put on some speed, and a few minutes later, they arrived at a large boulder. The figure jumped off, returned the Gyrados into a green Pokeball, and headed for the left side of the boulder. Feeling along the side, it found what it was looking for. The teenager threw off its hood, revealing a female face with long, dark green hair. She placed her hand on a section of the boulder, causing a bright light to shine. A small line shone into her eyes.

"Retina scan confirmed. DNA identified. Welcome, Guardian Emerald," an electronic voice beeped. The boulder shifted, and a trapdoor came into view. Emerald lifted it, and, in a swish of her cloak, was gone.

* * *

"Someone's here." 

The girl lifted her head, mismatched eyes locked upon the door. Beside her, a dark-eyed boy also turned.

The heavy steel door creaked open, and Emerald walked in. The others let out a relieved sigh.

"Emerald... We haven't seen you in a while."

"Been busy," she replied simply. "How about you, Souta? Mokona?"

"Naturally. So many Guardians left to locate, not to mention keeping track of the League's activities," Mokona said. "Tory and the twins finally found a way to keep up the barrier around Larouse; they're heading up here tomorrow."

"I thought I heard someone come in."

A red-haired woman came out of the adjacent room.

"Emerald... You're alright," Misty said, holding her at arm's length and looking at her.

"In a way..." she muttered.

"You're looking peaked. Moko, go get her some food."

"Right away, Mom."

She returned a moment later with a bowl of stew, bread, and some water.

"Here," she set them down in front of Emerald.

"Thanks," the Dragon Mistress replied, sitting down.

Mokona looked at her with a puzzled expression. "Wouldn't you rather take off your cloak while eating?"

Emerald was quiet for a minute. Then, she reached up and undid the clasp. When the cloak fell to the floor, everyone let out an audible gasp.

"Emerald...Wha-what happened to you?" Souta said slowly. The eighteen-year old's body was covered with cuts and wounds of all sorts, some still dripping blood.

Her golden eyes flashed menacingly.

"My father."

"So, Lance has stooped to that level," Misty said. "Doing this to his own daughter...Well! These will have to be healed before they get infected," she added, examining them.

"Healing's no exactly Rayquaza's area," Emerald said, looking at Mokona.

"That's right."

Mokona walked over to her, placing her hand on her arm.

"It's mine."

The skin underneath her hand glowed a bright green. Seconds later, scars were all that remained of the deepest cuts.

"How'd he find out, though?" Emerald wondered out loud. "I mean, no one could've suspected me, could they?"

"Either way, my husband will have to look into this," Misty said.

"Look into what?"

Somehow, Ash had come into the room without them noticing. There were bags under his eyes, and his dark hair was a mess. He had obviously been going without sleep.

"Clean yourself up, Ash," Misty said reproachfully. "You're a mess."

The Pokemon Master just shrugged.

"So, what's happened?"

Souta and Mokona briefly explained the situation.

"Yes...Somehow, information's been leaking in. They got Gary a few weeks ago, too."

Emerald looked up.

"Really?" she said. "How's May taking it?"

"She's being optimistic," Misty replied. "She's making herself believe that he's still alive, that they haven't killed him yet. There is a chance, but I highly doubt it."

"I didn't hear anything about it. Usually when they catch a Resister the news would be all around Indigo Plateau," Emerald said. "Wonder why they decided to keep this one quiet."

"The League's activities have been very odd lately," Ash stated. "They're being extremely suspicious of everyone. I mean, Gary was a Gym Leader. Normally, they wouldn't be suspected."

"Which reminds me..."

Emerald reached into her pocket, removing a crumpled up sheet of paper.

"I found this on my dad's desk; thought it might come in handy."

Ash unraveled the piece of paper. It was a map of sorts, though he couldn't tell of what. Emerald read the question on his face.

"Dunno what it's for. However, I do know that Dad took it out of a folder that he usually keeps important documents in, so I nicked it."

"Good thinking."

The five of them looked up. A red-haired teenager was standing in front of a doorway, holding a younger girl's hand. She was rubbing her eye with her free hand, obviously tired.

"Hiro, you're up," Ash said to his son. "Why'd you drag Momo out with you, though?"

"Drag? She practically made me promise to wake her up!"

Momo nodded sleepily, while her older sister tied her dark hair back.

"Guard duty?" Emerald said.

"Isn't it obvious?" Hiro replied, running a comb through his hair. "Momo's a tough one, you know? She's only twelve, but she still wants to help," he added, looking at the half-asleep girl.

"And yet she's still so cute," Emerald said with a sad smile. "The war drains all innocence... It's a breath of fresh air to see someone like her..."

"Em, the food's getting cold," Mokona suddenly pointed out.

"Oh."

Until now she didn't realize how hungry she was. She dug into the food eagerly, though she was careful not to eat too fast.

"Is Fuu back yet?" she asked.

"No, she and Todd are helping out somewhere in Kanto. Viridian was just destroyed last week."

"That was unplanned," Emerald said. "Looks like Dad just decided to destroy it along with Gary."

She stood up, finished.

"Emerald, my aunts are stationed near Viridian. See if you can get a message to them, will you?" Mokona asked.

She waved back a reply, heading to her room.

* * *

"I'm home, Mom." 

The door opened. Emerald looked inside. The room hadn't changed; two futon on the floor, one with green sheets, the other with pale blue sheets. A small table was beside each. She collapsed on her futon, glancing at the picture on her night stand. It was taken almost ten years ago, when she was eight. Her family had gone to the summer festival held in Blackthorn every year. Emerald was in a yukata dotted with Dratini; she was also holding one, her first Pokemon. She was in the arms of a pretty woman with light blue hair, her mother. Crystal's clothes were decorated with Water Pokemon, unlike the yukata of Emerald's godmother, Claire, which had Dragonair on it. Next to them was Lance, his clothes a plain red.

Looking at it now, the picture seemed so ironic. Out of the four people in it, only two were still alive: Emerald and her father, Lance. Claire had died at the beginning of the war, when she opposed Lance. Crystal was killed a year later, when she was found to be a double-agent for the Resistance. Emerald herself was only spared because Lance believed her to be on his side.

Her eyes fell on the large photo across the room. Getting up, she examined it more closely. A graceful Articuno, its wings spread out, with snowflakes sparkling around it.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Emerald jumped.

"_Fuu_!" she glared at the younger girl. "Don't scare me like that!"

"Alright, alright, Em, don't get so worked up."

Fuu walked around the room with a slight skip in her movements, long blue hair flying around her.

"It's great to be back," she said, relieved. "Being there... Seeing all that suffering... It was horrible."

She sat down on her futon.

"I know I should be used to it by now, but still..."

She looked up at Emerald with her ruby eyes.

"Hiro told me what happened."

The older girl shrugged, as if it was nothing.

"It doesn't matter," she said. "Dad was bound to find out sometime."

Emerald sat down, fingering a hole in the mattress.

"You know, I'm surprised you still feel that way about him."

"About who?"

"Lance. If I were you, I would've stopped thinking of him as my father a long time ago."

Fuu flopped down next to her, looking at the photo.

"_And_ you still have this thing," she said.

She shrugged again.

"It's hard to stop thinking of him as my dad, cause he _is_, you know? All those years, he was the best father a girl could have. Mom told me about his past, how he brainwashed a Dragonair and stuff. But she forgave him, and I did too."

The two teenagers sat in silence, until a loud siren snapped them back into reality.

"Fuu, Emerald, come into the control room immediately," Todd's voice boomed over the PA system.

"Come on, let's go," Fuu said, suddenly serious. "Dad hasn't sounded that urgent in a while..."

"Right behind you."

* * *

Ash and Todd were working furiously in front of the numerous screens that littered the control room. 

"It's definitely a Guardian," Emerald said when she entered. "I can't tell exactly which one, though."

"Neither can I," Fuu added.

"Nor me," Souta said.

"That narrows it down," Todd said. "Not one of the legendary birds, the smaller legendaries, or Kyogre or Groudon."

"That leaves the legendary dogs, Ho-Oh, and the Regis, then," Misty said, looking over Ash's shoulder. "You've worked all the other data in, I suppose?"

"Naturally."

A scratching sound could be heard from above.

"I'll go check it out," Mokona said.

* * *

The boulder shifted, and the trapdoor slowly opened. Mokona pushed herself up, looking around. 

"H...Help..."

She whirled around. A boy, a few years older than her, was on the ground. His arm was bleeding furiously, and several bruises were visible.

Forgetting everything else, Mokona rushed over to him, kneeling down.

"Are you alright?" she asked softly, helping him up.

His head slowly lifted. She saw his golden eyes widen in fear. His hand shot up, grabbing the grass-green jewel around her neck. Mokona gasped.

The gem glowed brilliantly, before turning a deep brown.

"Regi...Rock..." he managed to say, before collapsing to the ground.

* * *

**Hey, everyone. ) I finally got this one submitted. Readers of "Promise on a Luvdisc" might recognize Crystal. Basically, I wrote this a looooooooong time before I wrote PoaL, so Crystal's character design began here. Anyway, there's gonna be quite a few OCs in this story. This was originally planned to be two stories, the first taking place four years before, when Mokona and Souta first started their journeys. However, it didn't work out so well, so I'll just put bits and pieces of it in here. If the whole prophecy and Guardian business seems confusing right now, don't worry, it'll become clear in time. As a side note, I'm planning for most of the chapters to be named after a Guardian, so each chapter will come with a nice character bio.**

**P.S. "Promise on a Luvdisc" is currently on a short hiatus; I've got major writer's block, and can't decide on the next chapter. X.x

* * *

**

**Legends Special: Character Bio**

**EMERALD (MIDORITAMA) 緑玉**

**Alias: The Dragon Mistress  
Status: Guardian of Rayquaze; Reincarnation of Guardian Kiken.  
Age: 18  
Hair: Dark green  
Eyes: Gold  
Height: 5' 9"/175 cm  
Weight: 108 lbs./49 kg **

The daughter of Dragon Champion Lance and Johto Champion Crystal Star, Emerald was always expected to do great things. As a child, she studied with Gym Leader Claire, who is also her godmother. When the prophecy began, she helped her mother smuggle information to the other side. It was four years before Lance found out about her double-agent status. She's best friend with Fuu, the Guardian of Articuno and Todd's daughter.


End file.
